“I expect the EU Commission to get going, because more and more member countries are dissatisfied,” said Chancellor Karl Nehammer in an interview with the German newspaper “Welt”.
Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) complains about a massive increase in migration in Austria and in this context criticizes the EU Commission sharply. “I expect the EU Commission to get going, because more and more member countries are dissatisfied,” said Nehammer in an interview with the German newspaper “Welt” (Tuesday edition).
“Why doesn’t the Commission, as guardian of the treaties, finally take care of the fact that EU law is constantly being broken when so many irregular migrants arrive in a landlocked country like Austria, who have previously passed through several EU countries and safe third countries without being stopped to be?” Nehammer asked. The EU Commission had “unfortunately ignored the perforated external borders in recent years”.
“This is the limit”
Nehammer continues: “The EU border protection agency Frontex must also be held accountable in order to finally protect the EU’s external border effectively and to be a protective wall for the member states and against trafficking crime.” In addition, the EU Commission must ensure that the home countries take back illegal migrants as quickly as possible and give these states appropriate incentives.
According to the Chancellor, Austria received almost 57,000 asylum applications between the beginning of January and the end of August – an increase of 195 percent compared to the previous year. “And the numbers will continue to rise. In addition, there are about 85,000 Ukrainians who we protect and care for. Austria has more than enough,” said Nehammer.
„Team Europa“
The Vice-President of the EU Commission responsible for migration, Margaritis Schinas, emphasized on Monday after a meeting with Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) in Vienna: “No state can manage migration alone.” You have to work together as “Team Europe”. According to Schinas, he informed Karner about his recent trip to the Balkans after the increasing number of arrivals put Austria under pressure. He also wanted to meet with Nehammer on Monday evening.
In view of rising energy prices, the chancellor criticized national go-it-yourself efforts in the so-called gas price brake. “But this gas price brake can only be organized at European level. Going it alone nationally is out of the question, also because it can eat away at competitiveness in the internal market,” Nehammer told the newspaper. “The EU must jointly shoulder a certain price for gas used to generate electricity and pass this on to consumers. This is the only way to finally decouple the high gas prices from electricity prices. Of course, market prices would have to be paid for the gas, otherwise you would receive the EU no gas.” The difference between the usual market purchase price and the price for the consumer would have to be borne by the public sector.
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